Walking

In the first half of the 90s, I started out at somewhere around 280 pounds and, through a lot of walking and running,  managed to get down to 204 lbs.  I was maintaining it pretty well – until I got hooked on wallyball, a variation of volleyball that’s played in a racquetball court.  Volleyball was one sport that I really enjoyed in Phys. Ed. and, even though I was over 40, I held my own in wallyball.

Since I didn’t go out for sports when I was in school, I never had any sports injuries.  In a few short months of playing several times a week after work, I strained both rotator cuffs and a trapezius muscle and had a finger on my right hand dislocated. 

With recovery from each of those, I never did get back to a good fitness routine and then, at home in 1996, I had a lumbar disk herniate.  That put me on short term disability and bed rest.  I never had to have surgery for it, but recovery took a bit of time and by the time I was getting around fairly well, I was totally out of the fitness habit.

Now retired, I’m 67 and, like so many, have health issues that might have been prevented with regular medical checkups, exercise and weight loss.  I’ve been exercising very regularly for the last two years, but haven’t been able to lose much weight. After my last checkup with my doctor, I decided to try what has worked before – walking, and a lot of it.

Walking on the elevated track at the gym, one and a half to two hours a day, usually six days a week, I’m down about eight pounds in six weeks.  This time, too, I started at about 280 pounds. 

I just have to keep doing what I’m doing.  I’ve tried many, many times in the past with dieting and/or exercise, but I’ve never been able to have the success like I had back then.

Revised from a blog post written April 1, 2009